Book review

This is a provocative critique of the work of the Egyptian feminist Nawal el-Saadawi. Tarabishi argues that the heroines of her novels, far from being shining examples obliterated womanhood, have unconsciously absorbed a male ideology that actually works against the interests of women. Their revolt is not, he claims, the result of their oppression by men, but of their connivance with their oppressor and their acceptance of his view of the world.

Saadawi's heroines are accused of elitism. These doctors, lawyers and medical students, shunning the world of ordinary women, show a distinct lack of solidarity with their sex. They are not, as they claim, fighting a society which oppresses them, but, in reacting against the very fact of being women, are struggling against nature.

Tarabishi proclaims that he is defending feminism against its false friends. In a spirited reply, Saadawi counters that his critique is based on a rigid and outmoded Freudian analysis.